Tag Archives: Chancellor

NICOLA Sturgeon would hit working families with a £1,063 tax bill as the price for propping up a Labour government, George Osborne warned yesterday.

He claimed the SNP leader would force Ed Miliband to raid the nation’s pay packets to meet nine hidden spending pledges in her party’s manifesto.

The Chancellor says the new £18.4billion “ransom note” would hurt real people – and trigger a mass exodus of job creators.

Mr Osborne declared: “This is a really stark situation and we are only five days away from it.

“Ed Miliband is not strong enough to win the election outright so we face a toxic combination of a weak Labour PM being held hostage by Scottish Nationalists, night after night, budget clause after budget clause.

“The SNP have only two objectives – one is to get maximum resources for Scotland and the other is to make the government look shambolic to further their cause of independence.

“They have already said they would borrow £148billion to meet their promises and now we’ve found nine more unfunded commitments they would write into Ed Miliband’s Budget.

“We’re talking serious money here. It would add £1,063 a year to the average working family’s tax bill.

“If interest rates go up by one per cent because of all this political chaos, that would add £1,000 to the average mortgage repayment.”

In an exclusive interview, Mr Osborne also warned that businesses and investors who base themselves in Britain could flee abroad – putting thousands of Brits out of work.

He said: “All this would be put at risk by Ed Miliband’s high tax, anti-business, anti-growth policies that will destroy investment, cost jobs and drive these companies away.

“If we see the economic chaos of a weak Ed Miliband held hostage by the Scottish Nationalists, then jobs and investment will leave Britain.

“We’re in a fight now for our country’s future now. In just a few days time, we could be plunged into political instability and economic chaos with a weak Ed Miliband, who is clearly not up to the job, propped up by the life support machine of the Scottish Nationalists.

“It would be a disaster for our country.”

Mr Osborne added: “We’ve just done some new work on the SNP’s manifesto, which they have made very clear they will demand as their ransom note.

“It would cost an extra £1,063 a year in taxes for the average working family in this country.”

The SNP has already said it would borrow £148billion – and no more – to meet its election promises. But the nine hidden commitments to boost welfare spending at a cost of £18.4billion would have to be paid for with tax rises.

Nicola Sturgeon yesterday scoffed at Ed Miliband’s refusal to do any deals and vowed to derail his government if he didn’t jump to her tune.

She said: “If he’s not prepared to talk and to compromise then he will not get things through.”

Mr Osborne spoke during a campaign visit to Blackpool North and Cleveleys, a key marginal seat where Tory Paul Maynard is defending a 2,150 majority.

He branded Mr Miliband a “spendaholic” who would crash the economy again and “screw it up” for hard-working Brits.

The Chancellor brandished a copy of the note left in the Treasury in 2010 by departing Labour minister Liam Byrne admitting there was no cash left.

“We know he will end up causing everyone a lot of grief because we’ve been through it all before,” he declared.

“Let’s not end up in the situation where we have to wait for another Labour Treasury minister to write another letting telling us they’ve spend all our money.”

Asked what note HE would be leaving on his desk, he replied: “I’m not thinking about writing letters. I want to be back at work on Friday morning bringing jobs and prosperity to towns like this.

“I don’t want to hand over what we’ve achieved over the last five years though the hard work and sacrifice of the British people and businesses to Ed Balls and Ed Miliband for them to smash it against the wall.

“I am fighting with every last breath we’ve got in the next five days to make sure that doesn’t happen. I want to make sure we build on what we’ve achieved and don’t allow these Labour politicians who screwed it up in the past to screw it up in the future.”

Mr Osborne admitted her burst into laughter at Ed Miliband’s stumbling performance in the BBC election debate last week.

But it wasn’t the sight of him tripping up that amused him, but the labour leader’s insistence the last Labour government didn’t overspend.

The Chancellor said: “I think the entire nation laughed out loud. I thought that was a really telling moment, probably the defining moment of the campaign for me.

“He looked like a rabbit in the headlights, unable to convince the audience that Labour didn’t mess up the public finances.

“”The terrifying thing is not his view about history, but that he’d do it all again.

“It wasn’t just that Ed Miliband physically stumbled off the stage. He metaphorically stumbled. He was unable to answer the basic question of whether we can trust him with our money. That’s the most fundamental question for a Prime Minister.

During the campaign, Mr Osborne has become convinced that voters will put the economy at the forefront of their minds when they vote on Thursday.

He said: “These are not abstract ideas for people who read The Sun on Sunday. It means you don’t get that job, or the job you have is lost and the mortgage bill goes up. Your income is cut, you family’s economic opportunities snatched away.

“We have it within our power to have David Cameron back at work on Friday morning, the economy continuing to grow, jobs being created, free childcare and the tax-free minimum wage implemented into law.

“Is a community like this going to get a look in if the Scottish Nationalists have got the whip hand over Ed Miliband? Of course not. So I am seriously worried about the future if we head down that road as a country.”

Mr Cameron hit back at his Lib Dem deputy Danny Alexander who has accused him of claiming all the credit for tax cuts and economic growth.

He declared: “We did some good work together but ultimately they were my budgets and I had to make the big calls about what was in them.

“The Liberal Democrats are probably desperate in this election and they are shouting and screaming to try and get noticed.

“But, to be honest, people know the contest is between David Cameron and the stability of a majority Conservative government or the chaos of Miliband and the Scottish Nationalists. A vote for the Liberal Democrats is a vote for that chaos.

“If people want David Cameron in Downing Street they have got to vote for David Cameron.”

HE was famously booed at the London’s 2012 Games.

But there’s one fan who’s always pleased to see George Osborne – his new pet pooch Lola.

The cute and fluffy Bison Frise always gives the Chancellor a warm welcome when he arrives at 11 Downing Street, where she has been top dog since December.

Mr Osborne said: “She’s great and is always pleased to see me, which doesn’t always happen to a politican.

“There’s an unquestioning love there which is reciprocated. I didn’t grow up with a dog. We had cats. So it was quite a big step for us but it’s been brilliant.

“It has really advanced all of our lives. Lola leaps on you and starts tying to lick you. She’s fantastic.”

Lola has even brought new meaning to his job of clearing up the mess “Labour left behind”.

He added: “Even when at 6.30 in the morning I’m downstairs in the Downing Street garden with my little black poop bags chasing around after Lola, I’m still thinking she brings joy to our lives.”

Dad-of-two Mr Osborne admits that when it comes to running the household economy, his author wife Frances has an equal say.

“That is a shared endeavour,” he insists. “Frances and I do it together. She’s a brilliant lady in her own right. She writes great books and she has been brilliant.”

To relax they watch boxed sets and recently he’s spent his spare hour off glued to TV hit Poldark and admits to having a soft spot for heroine Demelza.

The Chancellor admits 11 Downing Street is an “odd place to grow up” for their kids Luke, 13, and Liberty, 11.

He said: “They are pretty level headed and we try to keep it as real as possible for them. They get pocket money like other children.”

Luke is into vinyl records and uses “every spare penny” to buy old LPs from the 70s and 80s from groups such as Duran Duran.

Liberty loves cooking and has been watching the Masterchef finals and the Great British Bake Off.

Mr Osborne said: “She’s into cooking and I’m her sous chef, the under chef for her and do what she says. I say ‘Yes, chef!’

“I used to do a slow-cook leg of lamb with macaroni. You put the lamb in the oven with some tomatoes and onioins for about four or five hours and they you add the macoroni for the last 20 minutes. It’s really good.

“But look, there is a big difference between turning up on th weekend, spending an hour in the supermarket geting all your individual ingredients and producing suppoer on a Saturday night and what I call reall cooking, which is producing a meal every night for the kids.”

Which kitchen does he prefer to cook in?

“I just have the one,” he said.

CHILLED George Osborne served ice cream at a seaside shop and admitted: “I’m a bit of a vanilla man”.

He was invited to a few scoops from an array of flavours at the New Yorker sundae parlour in Cleveleys, Lancs, but plumped for the plain and traditional.

The Chancellor said: “You may think it’s boring but there’s a lot to be said for a good, old-fashioned, dependable vanilla. I quite like the look of the cherry and the pistachio but you can’t beat a good vanilla.”

Mr Osborne served The Sun on Sunday an extra large cone and declared: “You get better helpings with the Cone-servatives.”

But being a vanilla-lover is not as boring as it sounds. An ice cream personality test website describes them as colourful, impulsive risk-takers who set high goals and have high expectations of themselves.

GEORGE Osborne has made so many factory visits he’s now got his own high-vis jacket and hard hat.

He’s had to wear flourscent safety gear at least 40 times during the election campaign after stepping out of his Treasury “bunker”.

He admits he dug himself in during a “difficult period” but added: “Then, I realised you can’t behave like that when you’re democratically and accountable politician and you’re taking decisions that affect people’s lives.

“You have got to go out there explain yourself. I found that if you’re stuck in the Treasury, you don’t hear anything new and you don’t engage with people.

“So I got myself out and about and I’ve really enjoyed it. A lot of things we’ve done, a lot of initiatives we’ve pursued like the concept of the Northern Powerhouse, came from these conversations and not thinking all the answers like within the square mile of Whitehall.

“Somebody did give me my very own high-vis jacket and hardhat because I was getting out to so many different workplaces.”

The hi-vis Chancellor has also posed for a string of selfies – including one with Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho.

Blues fan Mr Osborne for once the person doing the asking when they met for the first time at an event for football-loving MPs.

He’d like to be at Stamford Bridge tomorrow where Chelsea hope to secure their fifth league title.

But he says: “I don’t know whether people would ask what I’m doing but on the other hand we haven’t won the league for five years – and last time we were in the middle of an election, too.

“I was thrilled to meet Jose. We needed the special one back, didn’t we? Let’s hope we can have a double this week with a win for both blue teams.”ENDS

GEORGE Osborne is wielding the axe again — with £9billion of savings in his sights.
It’s a relief that the Chancellor has ruled out further tax rises as a way to meet his targets.
And he is absolutely right to protect the security services and anti-terror cops from any more cuts.
Mr Osborne admits there are going to be tough decisions ahead as he digs deep into public spending.
He could make a start by turning his attention to the billions of pounds wasted in Whitehall.
For instance, there’s the Crown Prosecution Service which prints a million pieces of paper a day.
Or he could find out why it costs £30,000 a year to lock up a convict in some prisons and only £12,000 in others.
Mr Osborne won’t slash the bloated benefits bill any further — but only because the Lib Dems won’t let him.
He’s also facing resistance from at least four Cabinet ministers who say they’ve nowhere left to cut.Perhaps he should remind them of his mantra: We’re all in this together.

IT went down a storm last time so who can blame George Osborne for pulling the same trick again.

The Chancellor announced a freeze on council tax for the second year running to help ease the strain on cash-strapped families.

The move will save the average household an estimated total of £144 over the past two years and means bills will not rise before April 2013 at the earliest.

George Osborne talks to David Wooding

Mr Osborne can’t force councils to peg council tax but he is stumping up an extra £805 million to give to those who limit spending increases to 2.5 per cent.

Labour have scoffed at the move, claiming it will only lead further cuts in services provided by town halls.

But deep down they know this will prove enormously popular with millions of families who struggle to pay what must be the most begrudge bill in their household budget.

Mr Osborne obviously remembers the huge applause he received in the conference hall – and mass acclaim outside – when he announced the current freeze on council bills.

That must have driven him to find the cash to put on a repeat performance at the Tories’ annual rally inManchester. Money will also be offered to Scottish and Welsh administrations to spend as they wish.

Mr Osborne said: “I am doing everything to help you, your family, to help the economy, to get people into work, to keep people in work.

“That is what we are working flat out on. We reject the idea that governments can’t do anything in the face of these global storms. My job is to take the difficult decisions that help families to put food on the table and keep the people in work who bring the bread home. That’s my job.

“We are working flat out, using every tool available to us. We are not standing on the sidelines.”